When players fails a roll (rolling 6 or less), the GM should apply a consequence to players. It's important to remember that the GM has full control of the environment, and the outcomes of things, as well as what happens to the player characters.

With that in mind, here's a few examples of how a GM may punish a player in a session.

• Player Status
  • Debilities resulting in reductions in basic stats.
  • Ailments, more complex illnesses and effects.
  • Damage
  • Max HP Reduction to make the players more vulnerable.
• Items and Equipment
  • Damaged or Lost Items typically lasting until the end of the adventure
  • Broken Weapons, reduced damage output, being dropped or being rendered useless.
  • Broken Armor, reduced Armor, or even increased vulnerability.
  • Backfiring Equipment Weapons, Armor or Items that suddenly don't work like expected.
• Plot Twists
  • Hard Choices making the player choose between undesirable outcomes.
  • Peril requiring the player to roll Defy Danger or something else.
  • Bad Ends, appropriate for important NPCs dying, failed quests, or completely diverted adventures.
  • Harder Encounters where suddenly the player is faced with tougher monsters.
  • Bad Luck where something goes wrong mid-combat.
• Serious Consequences
  • Ongoing Effects - Problems that stick with the player between sessions.
  • Death - Resulting in a loss of LP/XP and Gold.

If the player is constantly rolling 7-9, or routinely barely squeaks by with 7 rolls, the GM should consider applying extra difficulty to the session by applying a background consequence.

Background consequences are like the consequences of failure, but typically are limited to things like…

• Player Status
  • Building effects - Status ailments with ominous precursors, like a poison fog.
  • Environmental Hazards - Acidic fluids which melt armor, a severe storm at sea.
• Items and Equipment
  • Item Peril - Where using an item puts the player into peril, where otherwise it would not have.
• Plot Twists
  • Betrayal - Having an NPC or even the environment itself lie to the player.
  • Traps - Adding man-made risks to the environment.
  • Hard Choices - Making the player choose between undesirable outcomes later on.
  • Peril - Requiring the player to roll Defy Danger or something else at some point in the future.
  • Harder Encounters - Where suddenly the player is faced with tougher monsters.

Consider these options carefully, and be creative! Background consequences should keep the players cautious, without becoming predictable.

Debilities are simple ailments that reduce player stats. These are best used as session-long consequences that make life harder for the players. Keep in mind that there are many abilities to players that make it possible for them to remove them. Serious consequences that will override recovery magic may require a bit more justification.

Ailments are more complex inflictions that cause a more diverse range of undesirable effects on the player. They are typically more complex in their execution, requiring the GM to remember who has what and in certain circumstances, remembering to occasionally issue damage or further punish the player. However, they are much more powerful than simple statuses.

Players can be damaged by reducing their HP, thus bringing them a bit closer to death. Generally speaking you'll want to damage them in accordance with the 'toughness' of the monster they're fighting. Don't get fixed on hard numbers, and focus more on the general difficulty of the scenario.

items_and_equipment can also take damage or be dropped! Consider things like breaking a player's sword or spear, or damaging items in their inventory. There's presently no way for the players to recover these items, so punishments like this can be especially damning. Weapon and item damage persist until the end of the adventure, but should not be permanent (unless the player and GM agree to that, of course).

Consequences can take the form of additional complications for the player. For instance, failing a Stealth roll might result suddenly alerting everyone in the immediate area, leading to a nasty encounter, or swarm of encounters, or even a completely botched adventure!

Try not to be closed off to the idea of player failure, and consider letting them encounter circumstances and complications that actually lead them to dead-ends or more frustrating consequences.

Peril can be used to put a player at additional risk by suddenly requiring them to roll Defy Danger or another move to avoid a hazard, such as falling rocks or a slippery slope on a hill. Given the severity of the peril, you can make them roll with a modifier (-X) to challenge them.

Betrayals can occur where an NPC or the environment itself (signposts, paths in the road) lead the player to undesirable circumstances or place them in grave danger.

Traps can spring on a player, but might have been found if players were cautious and used Discern.

If a player fails in a particularly spectacular way, you can create and apply an ongoing effect. These should be reserved for especially egregious mistakes, such as something that results in a misadventure or death.